Transformative Investments

Since its founding in 2020, the FSPH-based UCLA Center for LGBTQ+ Advocacy, Research & Health (C-LARAH) has been a leader in research, training, and the implementation of programs to improve the health and well-being of sexual and gender minorities. Through rigorous epidemiology, biobehavioral research, community engagement, innovative interventions, and legislative advocacy, C-LARAH has delivered concrete results in the U.S. and globally — including a cost-effective initiative that decreased stimulant use by 87% among those with stimulant use disorder and a groundbreaking intervention that reduced HIV viral load in adolescents by 74%. But last year, a center that had consistently won competitive federal grants of approximately $8 million annually for its operations experienced substantial funding cuts, threatening its ability to continue vital research and outreach programs.

That didn’t sit well with Jonah Segil, a high school student in Manhattan Beach, CA.

Segil’s activism was initially sparked in middle school, when he was teased and bullied by peers for being gay. “I decided I wanted to make schools and communities safer spaces so other LGBTQ+ people didn’t have the same experience,” he says. He joined a youth advisory council for the Beach Cities Health District and began advocating for the mental health needs of LGBTQ+ youth. After participating on a panel of high school students convened by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Segil became passionate about public speaking. He interned for a state senator, where he learned about legislative advocacy for LGBTQ+ issues. At his high school, he started a Queer Advocacy Club.

Entering his junior year in fall 2025, Segil was looking for a way to become involved on a larger scale, so he emailed more than a dozen programs and institutions, inquiring about volunteer and internship opportunities. That’s when he learned from Dr. Matthew Mimiaga, C-LARAH director and a professor and vice chair of FSPH’s Department of Epidemiology, about the funding reductions, which had placed programs and internships on hold. “Jonah was outraged by the funding cuts,” recalls James Segil, Jonah’s father. “He said, ‘Dad, this is so wrong. We have to do something.’”

With guidance from his father — an entrepreneur with experience building technology companies — Jonah Segil sprang to action, offering to partner with Mimiaga to launch a fundraising initiative for C-LARAH. In consultation with Mimiaga and Dr. Gilda Noori, a member of the C-LARAH leadership team, he began contacting potentially supportive philanthropists to request meetings where they could make their pitch. The collaboration helped establish the center’s inaugural Advisory Board and used social media to expand the reach of the group’s efforts. The donations began to roll in, surpassing $100,000 by early 2026.

“Jonah is a remarkable human being; his passion and enthusiasm are inspiring,” Mimiaga says. “He has sparked a new chapter in our philanthropic journey — a collaboration rooted in a shared desire to make a difference for LGBTQ+ individuals in Los Angeles, across the U.S., and in resource-constrained settings across the globe.”

With this new donor support, Segil and other students are now conducting HIV research as part-time C-LARAH interns. Segil has co-authored several articles for peer-reviewed journals along with a first-authored research paper with Mimiaga. “I had always been interested in the health policy side of LGBTQ+ advocacy,” he says. “But this experience has fostered a new passion for me, and now I know I want to incorporate public health in my higher education.”